Lost but Found

Okay Is An Addiction Of Mine

Rule #2: Please. PLEASE. Make sure no one follows.

—

We walked through the dense forest, navigating muddy paths and ducking under low-hanging branches. The silence I sought was elusive, drowned out by Kate's constant rich bitch babble. Her complaints echoed through the trees like a broken record.

"Oh my god, my shoe almost got stained! There's no signal! Couldn't you have called someone to come and pick us up? Or at least order a cab? Ugh, these bugs are so annoying! I'm starving, tired, and absolutely perfect, as the popular Kate Prince should be! I can't believe I'm not ruling the world yet; I'm so sexy, manipulative, and rich!" Okay, I may have added some things, but it's mostly accurate.

As if to prove my point, Kate's accident-prone nature became evident as she managed to trip not once but twice within the first half-hour of our walk. I heard a crunching sound and turned around to see her munching on one of the precious food bars I had packed for my journey.

"How and when did you get that? I packed only two bars, and they're meant for emergencies," I questioned her, my annoyance growing.

"Relax, food police. I was hungry," she replied defensively, smirking as if she had won some silent victory.

"Okay, fine, I don't care about the food. Just be careful on the higher ground. You tend to be distracted, and although the terrain is less muddy, it's completely covered in small stones, which could make it slippery," I warned her, pointing to my hand-drawn map of the woods.

But it seemed my caution was completely ignored. Only moments later, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air, and when I turned around, Kate was nowhere to be seen. My heart pounded, and a rush of adrenaline surged through me. I rushed to the cliffside from where the scream had originated and peered over the edge. There she was, precariously hanging on to some roots, having slipped and fallen off the cliff.

"Genius Kate," I muttered to myself, trying not to show the amusement I felt. "Hold on! I'm coming down!" I shouted, and without further thought, I began descending the cliffside after her.

After what felt like an eternity of heart-pounding moments, we finally landed at the bottom of the cliff, surprisingly without any major injuries. Well, I was relatively unscathed, but Kate was all covered in scratches and mud. "Are you okay?" I asked, trying to sound concerned.

"What do you think!" she yelled back, her anger evident. "I almost died, my shoes are ruined, and my mom is going to kill me!"

"Oh, come on, damsel in distress," I teased, trying to lighten the mood. "At this pace, I don't think we'll make it out of here alive."

"That's not something to joke about," Kate replied, her eyes welling up with tears, revealing her underlying fear and vulnerability.

"If you say so..." I chuckled, having to support myself on my knees in an attempt not to burst out laughing from her dramatic performance. I gave her my hand to help her stand up, but instead, she pushed it away and stood up on her own. "Yeah, I had it coming."

When I looked at our surroundings, it became clear that we were lost in the heart of the dense woods, far away from the path, and there was no clear route back up the cliff.

"Okay, let's retrace our steps along the outer edge of the cliff and try to find a way back up," I suggested, hoping we could find familiar terrain.

We wandered around for a while until we stumbled upon a spot I recognized.

With a sense of unease, I realized I had been here before... "Dammit Kate, we're lost!"

"What, so it's my fault now?" She snapped, annoyed. "I'm the one who's been following you!"

Okay, that's partly true, but I wouldn't have gotten lost if Kate here hadn't fallen off a cliffside and ruined my plan.

Ignoring her remark, I suggested we try a different path, hoping it might not lead us directly to the cemetery but at least to safety. With the sun setting, the urgency to find our way out intensified, and it was then that I realized our predicament was much more serious than I initially thought. The woods were vast, and there was no easy way out. But we couldn't let panic take over; we needed to find shelter and plan our next move.

"We really need to find a safe place to sleep," I remarked, accepting the reality that we weren't getting out of here tonight. "Maybe there's a cave or some shelter nearby."

Kate's anxiety skyrocketed, and she began voicing all kinds of fears, from bear attacks to lurking dangers in the woods. I tried to brush aside her concerns and focus on our immediate goal.

With the forest growing darker, we stumbled upon a heavy stream. The water was freezing, and we had to figure out a way to cross it without getting wet. One of the trees had a long branch that stretched all the way to the other side, but it seemed way too unstable

"Okay, drama queen, take your shoes off and roll up your jeans," I told her with a tinge of sarcasm, "We're crossing the stream."

"Yeah sure why use the long branch to cross the stream when we can walk through it and get wet" Kate mocked Alex

She attempted to use the long branch to cross the stream, but it snapped halfway through, sending her tumbling into the water, completely soaked.

"...That's why" I chuckled from the other side of the stream, still dry and safe.